Just before the Giants won the game last night, FOX tried to put their championship in perspective. Specifically, they explained to viewers that the world was a very different place in 1954, the last time the Giants won the World Series. Here was the on-screen graphic they used:

It was a different world! Indeed, it was an alternate universe in which the St. Louis Cardinals — who, last I checked, played west of the Mississippi River — didn’t even exist!

Joe Buck grew up in St. Louis, so I can only guess that steam was coming out of his ears as he read that graphic.

That’s a pet peeve of mine. I’ve seen a few gas stations that have a .10 cents discount for cash as opposed to credit. I don’t know about anybody else, but I think I learned that in second or third grade.

The geography on the graph was correct, because as it was pointed out above, the state of Mississippi is further West than the river. However, Joe Buck said, “Mississippi River,” so he screwed up. This however does not enter the top 100 things Joe Buck has screwed up in his broadcast career, so let’s not be TOO hard on him. Or, better yet, let’s be hard on him for all of the other things he does poorly as an announcer!

In Joe Schmuck’s defense—damn, I involuntarily cringed when I typed that—the size and font of the statement appears to just fit as small as they could go without making it too tough to read onscreen, so they had to leave out something (lik “the” before Mississippi). Jus’ sayin’…

Guys, this is FOX. FOX never lets the facts or reality stand in the way of good story or graphic. Being a fact checker at FOX is one of the few jobs that does not require that you are able to read or write.